How to get a CLI from Capital One

[staticvoidmain]

I was one of the unfortunate ones to get a CLD from Capital One last year. I once again tried to get it increased, but as predicted, was denied.

See, Capital One wants to see full utilization. Say, I request a CLI they want me to use my card closer to the limit. My issue with it is that right now, I get to 20-30% utilization, and for capital one, that is not enough. It seems to me that they want me to ding my credit score with high card utilization before they would consider a CLI. I've also been paying mid-cycle to keep it down. I mean, isn't high utilization also a factor for card lenders to be cautious? I know I am not really that much bucketed because I had more than double the credit limit before (and it grew naturally).

Am I getting this right? Is my concern legit? Any thoughts or ideas?

I do not really know how to strategize with Capital One.

[blindambition]

DP in past showed you needed to use 30%-50% for CLI consideration. They recently stated they will be more CLI friendly, but who knows what computer is looking for, other than definite spend and decent utilization.

[Curious_George2]

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@blindambition wrote:

DP in past showed you needed to use 30%-50% for CLI consideration. They recently stated they will be more CLI friendly, but who knows what computer is looking for, other than definite spend and decent utilization.

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+1. 

They do prefer high usage, but in my experience it's not necessary to let it report. You mentioned mid-cycle payments, so you seem to be on the right track there. 

More details here: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/How-to-get-a-CLI-from-Capital-One/td-p/619...

But, depending on what your current limit is, you might have a harder time using enough to satisfy them. $5k seemed to be a popular number for them to CLD down to, and we have seen few or no instances of those people getting CLIs since the fall cuts. 

Good luck!

[4sallypat]

Wow, that sounds like a self-defeating method of increasing your utilization.

No wonder I have never received a CLI after 4 years of having the same SL on their QS1.

I have always kept utilization down and going up to 50% is scary....

I'll keep it in the sock drawer for now until they change their lending practices....

[Save-n-Invest]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've had a Quicksilver card for at least 2-3 years now I must have tried 5-10 times to get a CLI no luck lol.. I've put at times $200-300 on the card with a $500 CL and paid it right off months after months using it like it was going out of style hoping they would up the ante a little and move me to $1000-2000 but nothing lol. Hell freezes over if they give me a CLI with per article lol.

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Cap 1 cut my QS from 10k to 5k last year. Does that count?

[Anonymous]

Elevated utilization percentage reported outside of [temporary] impact to your credit score really isn't a concern.  What matters is whether or not you're exhibiting Transactor behavior and paying off right away verses carrying that balance.

Say your CL is $3000 and you spend on average $2500 in a cycle.  You could:

A.  Make an extra payment mid-cycle and report a (say) 40%-50% utilization balance.

B.  Make multiple extra payments each cycle with one right before statement close and report a (say) 5%-10% utilization balance.

C.  You could make just 1 payment monthly in the amount of $2500 and therefore have an 83% reported utilization balance.

Regardless of which option you take above, Capital One will see that you're spend each cycle is $2500... so that should be enough for them to hand over a CLI.  My personal opinion though would be to suck up the [temporary] score ding and go with option "C" above.  Even though your spend is the same, you're showing that you need the CLI more simply based on the limit constraint of the account.  If you're making extra payments they could just continue allowing you to do just that, therefore meaning you don't really need the CLI.  I'm also a fan of having the "high balance" field on revolving accounts report a significant amount relative to the limit, as that's a field that other lenders can see.  IMO it's a great look to have an account where others can see you've run it up significantly, but then paid it off.  If you apply for a CC and your high balances on your current credit cards are all (say) $100-$300 it doesn't suggest you need much of a SL, where if all of your high balances are in the thousands (yet your current reported balances are tiny) that's a great snapshot for them to see.

[OmarGB9]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've asked for a CLI 3 months in a row on my Savor One. They've offered $100 each time but I've declined. 

My usage has ranged from $,1800- $2,200 each month. My current limit is only $750. I would understand if my usage was very little but using 2-3 times my current limit should warrant a little more of a CLI. 

My 6th month statement cuts tomorrow. Hopefully the'll surprise me with a reward. 

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I wouldn't hold your breath lol. If they do, it'll still be the paltry $100 I'm sure. But good luck nonetheless. I've requested a CLI the last couple of months, always pay in full, have had different balances report, and I've been declined a CLI each time.

[Curious_George2]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Elevated utilization percentage reported outside of [temporary] impact to your credit score really isn't a concern.  What matters is whether or not you're exhibiting Transactor behavior and paying off right away verses carrying that balance.

Say your CL is $3000 and you spend on average $2500 in a cycle.  You could:

A.  Make an extra payment mid-cycle and report a (say) 40%-50% utilization balance.

B.  Make multiple extra payments each cycle with one right before statement close and report a (say) 5%-10% utilization balance.

C.  You could make just 1 payment monthly in the amount of $2500 and therefore have an 83% reported utilization balance.

Regardless of which option you take above, Capital One will see that you're spend each cycle is $2500... so that should be enough for them to hand over a CLI.  My personal opinion though would be to suck up the [temporary] score ding and go with option "C" above.  Even though your spend is the same, you're showing that you need the CLI more simply based on the limit constraint of the account.  If you're making extra payments they could just continue allowing you to do just that, therefore meaning you don't really need the CLI.  I'm also a fan of having the "high balance" field on revolving accounts report a significant amount relative to the limit, as that's a field that other lenders can see.  IMO it's a great look to have an account where others can see you've run it up significantly, but then paid it off.  If you apply for a CC and your high balances on your current credit cards are all (say) $100-$300 it doesn't suggest you need much of a SL, where if all of your high balances are in the thousands (yet your current reported balances are tiny) that's a great snapshot for them to see.

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This is an interesting perspective. I had noticed the "highest balance" field, but never really gave it much attention. Your post piqued my curiosity, so I looked back at my credit reports and I found something surprising: Capital One updates the Highest Balance field even if the figure never hit a statement. In other words, you can accomplish the objective bolded above without incurring the score hit of letting a high balance report.

I only checked this for Capital One (on all three reports), so I don't know if all lenders act the same way. I suspect not.

[Anonymous]

Interesting.  I had never noticed that with Cap One.  Not sure if it's always been that way or something new.  My highest balance on my Cap One CC is the highest reported statement balance, but that was years ago and may well have changed.  Typically in most cases it's going to be your highest reported statement balance on a card and that field will remain the same until you exceed that reported statement balance at some point.

[Curious_George2]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Interesting.  I had never noticed that with Cap One.  Not sure if it's always been that way or something new.  My highest balance on my Cap One CC is the highest reported statement balance, but that was years ago and may well have changed.  Typically in most cases it's going to be your highest reported statement balance on a card and that field will remain the same until you exceed that reported statement balance at some point.

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Right on. I assumed that was the universal way to do it. To document my claim that Capital One currently does it differently, here's a side-by-side view of how this card shows on my EX reports following my October and November statements. The statement balance went from ~$2k to ~$1k, but the Highest Balance went from $3,591 to $3,949. My balance did indeed get up to $3,949 between those statements. 

CapOne card on EX reports in Oct (left) and November (right)